-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Jury selection kicked off Thursday in the federal corruption case of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his associates , who are accused of setting up a criminal enterprise in the mayor 's office that engaged in racketeering , bribery , fraud and extortion .

A panel of 12 jurors , with six alternates , will decide the fate of Kilpatrick ; his father , Bernard Kilpatrick ; contractor Bobby Ferguson ; and Victor Mercado , a former director of Detroit 's Water and Sewerage Department . Prosecutors say they were involved in rigging millions of dollars worth of city contracts and extorting city contractors .

The jury panel will be whittled from a pool of more than 200 potential candidates .

All four men have maintained their innocence . Their attorneys were not immediately available for comment .

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Prosecutors say the defendants were `` working together to abuse Kilpatrick 's public offices , both his position as a state representative as well as his position of mayor of Detroit , to unjustly enrich themselves through a pattern of extortion , bribery and fraud . ''

At the heart of the scheme was corruption in municipal contracting , mostly centering on the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department , said Barbara McQuade , U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan .

Derrick Miller , a former Kilpatrick aide , entered into a plea agreement last year and is expected to testify against his former associates .

In September 2008 , the ex-mayor pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice stemming from his efforts to cover up an extramarital affair .

He also pleaded no contest to charges of assaulting a police officer who was attempting to serve a subpoena on a Kilpatrick friend in that case .

2008 : Detroit mayor apologizes to supporters , says he will not resign

2010 : Former Detroit mayor indicted on 19 fraud , tax charges

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The jury panel will be whittled down from a pool of more than 200 candidates

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Twelve jurors will decide the fate of the former Detroit mayor and three associates

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Prosecutors say the men were involved in rigging millions of dollars in city contracts

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All four men have maintained their innocence